Next Best Thing
by tensergorn
Summary: While Toriko recovers in Life, Sunny and Teppei learn the pros and cons of a Gourmet Hunter taking a Reviver as his partner.
1. First Impressions

A/N: Set in Life, while Toriko is regenerating his arm. Featuring Sunny in all his glamorous and prissy glory, and ditsy down-to-earth Teppei. Plus gluttonous Toriko and questionable mentor Yosaku! The Ice Hell arc and its resolution in Life is probably my favorite (of many) parts of Toriko. This ended up being the longest story I've ever written, so please forgive my inexperience. And yes, there is sex later, but that will be on AO3.

* * *

"Toriko?"

"Sunny!"

The absolute last person Sunny had expected to see in Life was his gluttonous, overeager fellow King.

Toriko lit up like a bonfire upon seeing Sunny, and insisted that they (Toriko's motley collection of new "friends") and Sunny all sit down somewhere and eat. The guy with green hair looked a little put-out, but agreed. As Sunny flicked the remaining moisture from his skin with his sensors, he gave the guy credit for not getting pulled into Toriko's generally infectious enthusiasm.

Once Sunny completed a much-abridged preparation routine, it was also Green Hair who led them to an outdoor restaurant.

"What were they thinking?" Sunny commented on the tent's fabric. "You'd think it was a circus with these loud red and white stripes."

"Aww, who cares?" said Toriko. "Let's eat!"

Sunny didn't bother sighing in exhasperation. "I suppose it has a lovely view."

"Yes, that's the Medical Library and the Hot Spring Shark pen," Green Hair pointed out. Quickly followed by the unrelated, "The scallops here are delicous."

"I want the most Life-like thing on the menu," Toriko grinned.

Sunny scanned the menu. He didn't have to be so careful here, nearly all the items served in Life were calculated to impart maximum health benefit. "Then it should be the Cuticle Berry appetizer."

"Sounds great! Order one for us," Toriko said.

After Sunny placed the order, the rest of Toriko's pack began chatting amongst themselves. Honestly, Sunny understood why Toriko was called the most charismatic of Gourmet Hunters. Here he was talking like he was old friends with a mafia man, a Gourmet Knight, and a Gourmet Reviver. Not Coco, not Sunny and certainly not Zebra were able to be so open and lively like that. He felt a bit out of place.

"Never knew Sunny of the Four Kings was such a priss," the heavily-scarred mafia man snarked. Sunny couldn't make up his mind whether the scars were hideous or ridiculously handsome. But the comment was not very dignified and didn't help Sunny feel less alienated.

"Watch out, or Sunny'll punch you with his hair," Toriko replied on his behalf. Sunny would have responded on his own thank you very much, if Green Hair had not settled his attention on Sunny as well.

"I've seen the look in your eyes before. You're on a hunt," said Green Hair.

Sunny's attention narrowed. He'd been foolish not to use his sensors before, because as Green Hair's identity dawned on him, Sunny realized he'd never get away with feeling the man up undetected.

Green Hair was Teppei the Reviver. Another giant of the age, maybe not on par with the Four Kings, but someone of consequence.

In a flash, his first impression of the Reviver was made: Amythest eyes. Remarkably smooth complexion marred by an unsightly scar (what was with these people and scars?!). Terrible fashion sense.

* * *

Shortly after they waved goodbye to Match, his men and Takimaru, Yosaku turned to Teppei.

"Well, Teppei? Going to stick around and help me out?"

Yosaku frequently framed his demands like questions. Teppei sighed. "If you put it like that..."

"Good! But you know, if you've got a job lined up, go on ahead. You're a professional. Toriko's not going to be doing anything interesting after the arm bud gets planted."

Which is how Teppei found himself wandering around the floor of Mother Wood on the off-chance that he'd find a job. Not to avoid further involvement in the Toriko case, but he did want to honor Yosaku's consideration. This wasn't his usual method for finding jobs; in fact, he had a list of clients of his own now, most of whom just called him up. It was enough to live pretty well on. Besides that, he had a list he always kept with him of his grandpa Jiro's known exploits. But, he reminded himself looking at some fresh-faced kids listening to an older Reviver, Mother Wood was where most of his leads had come from originally.

"Hey there, Tep," came a voice from behind him.

He turned to see Toriko's friend Sunny striding along, his hair in a high ponytail. First Zebra, then Toriko, now Sunny. If he hadn't met Coco by the end of the year, he'd be surprised.

To his recollection, Sunny had wanted to talk to Yosaku and that should have been over already, so Teppei was at a loss as to why he was being sought.

Sunny stopped gracefully in a beam of light. "Your crusty old bastard of a master sent me on an errand. An errand! Apparently, he wants some food. You'll help me, won't you? I have no idea where he expects me to shop."

"Did he tell you what he needs?" Teppei asked, entranced by the strangely angelic image.

"Not at all. I haven't the slightest idea what he wants."

"He probably doesn't care," Teppei chuckled.

Sunny scoffed. "I suppose a hairy, smelly lout like him wouldn't."

"C'mon," said Teppei, headed for the exit. "I'll take you to a market he likes, if you still want to."

Sunny shifted, pouting. Teppei wasn't sure who the petulant gesture was supposed to affect.

"Well, I could use some fresh air after being in that cramped lab," Sunny huffed.

The two headed out the door and down the long staircase.

Teppei had made the trip from Mother Wood to Life's markets daily for years. As Yosaku said, even Revivers couldn't materialize food out of thin air.

"Gawd, these stairs go forever," Sunny complained.

"Ha ha," Teppei agreed. "It's a pretty tall tree. When I was a kid I used to practice Reviving Forms going up and down while going grocery shopping."

"Reviving Forms?" Sunny asked. "What're those?"

Right, Sunny hadn't been in Ice Hell. Although he did wonder how one of the Four Kings could be isolated enough by the IGO to have never seen a Reviver in action.

"They're martial arts moves that enhance Knocking. Some people think Knocking can only be achieved with a tool, but that's not true. You can use punches and pokes and all sorts of stuff. Oh, it's like Toriko with his Fork and Knife. He uses the 'knife' and 'fork' to direct energy from his body. It's like that with Knocking, it's not just force, it's precision. Or an application of precise force-"

Teppei cut himself short. Sunny was giving him that peculiar look which usually meant he was rambling.

"You're interesting," Sunny said.

"Ha ha..." Teppei blushed. "Uh, most people tell me that I talk too much."

"Oh, you do." Sunny said. "But if Toriko's seen a Reviver in action, then I want to too." Teppei cringed. First he was "interesting," now he was just a tool of one-ups-manship?

Still. Ankles flexed, toes snapped into action and he leapt into the air. He twisted, shot towards the sky, spinning and plummeted to the ground below. Drawing up from landing, his palm jerked into position, energy tingling through it.

He dispelled the energy with a relaxed grin. "I used to do cartwheels all the way down. Want to see?"

"No. That would be unsightly," Sunny caught up to Teppei. Despite his words, his brow was raised with interest.

"Probably better not," Teppei admitted. "It's really tiring, especially on the way up."


	2. Gourmet Shopping

Sunny really couldn't think of the last time he'd been shopping for food. It seemed so quaint, which made it lovely in a certain way. But that warm, fuzzy feeling did not extend to shlepping the haul home.

"Couldn't they have used cloth bags?" Sunny lamented as he floated up the staircase. It wasn't to show off, it was just the easiest method for him.

Teppei grinned, a habit that he seemed to lean on heavily. "We could have brought our own, but these are biodegradable, don't worry."

"That's lovely, but it's not the environment I'm worried about," Sunny sighed. Gesturing with his hand, he drew Teppei's attention to the fact that his hair was festooned with grocery bags like a Christmas tree with particularly lumpy, plastic ornaments.

Teppei glanced, and then held out a black-gloved hand. "I can get those if it's too much for your hair."

"How dare you suggest my hair's weak!"

"Oops. Silence is golden."

Silence was fine with Sunny in dealing with this strange man, so he floated in peace while Teppei took the stairs with surprising grace.

"How far do those feelers go?" Teppei asked.

"Far enough," Sunny prickled. "I'm not giving information like that to someone who can put me behind bars." Let it not be said that Sunny had forgotten who put Zebra in a jail cell.

"Were you guys close? You and Zebra."

Now wasn't that an interesting question. Teppei's thick eyebrows didn't betray any particular emotion other than curiosity. Still, how probing.

"I'll tell you that but you could be kind enough to exchange information about Yosaku in turn," Sunny said.

Teppei shook his head. "No need. Look, I'll tell you anything you want. That I know. My master doesn't share a lot of stuff with me, you see."

"Well, I look forward to hearing all you don't know in lunch in a few minutes."

"Okay." Teppei grinned again.

* * *

Teppei knew something was wrong the minute he entered the lab. Call it a hunch, call it a smell, call it whatever. Maybe he could just read the tension in Yosaku's burly body all too well to know his master was in the zone. Teppei wanted to head out as soon as possible – to be honest, Yosaku's work awed him a bit too much and he would rather do something new and talk to Sunny for a while.

Sunny didn't notice, he was too busy laughing at Toriko's haircut.

Then the regeneration started, and even Sunny paid attention.

Toriko's cheeks caved, his muscles shriveled and seconds later he tottered like a skeleton towards the table of food. Teppei didn't have to see Yosaku to know his eyes were bugged out in amazement.

Teppei stumbled backward, making way for the emaciated man to reach the table of sustenance. Sunny dumped what was left in the bags onto the table with a swing of his hair, but his mouth dropped too.

During no portion of their trip to Ice Hell had Teppei truly understood how much Toriko could eat. Some living creatures had strong life forces but didn't consume much, or vice versa. Sunny knew. So Teppei assumed Sunny's slack-jawed expression wasn't in awe of the speed a steak slid down Toriko's throat, but horror at the lack of consumables.

"Tep!" he shouted.

With a nod, they bolted for the door.

Their descent down the stairs was nothing like the first time. Sunny flew and Teppei ran at full pace. Minutes later, Sunny skidded into the market, unleashing his hair.

"HAIR SHOPPING!" Tendrils shot out, grabbing apples and fish and grains indiscriminately.

Or not, so randomly, Teppei realized as he dashed for some Only Nuts to find Sunny's hair wrapped protectively around a bag.

"Do you have a good memory, Tep?" Sunny said, his arched eyebrows concentrated.

"Pretty good," he answered. Sunny's eyes darted around, like he was counting-

"That will have to do," he said, suddenly yanking several feasts worth of food from their stalls, and then some. The shopkeepers voices rose in protest.

"Hey!"

"Thief!"

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Put it on the tab of Sunny of the Four Kings!" Sunny snarled, his food-festooned hair curling into a package above his head. "Tep, you figure out how much I owe!"

"Whaaaat?!"

Before his shout had finished echoing, Sunny was out of sight.

Teppei looked around, and sighed heavily. Sure, he knew the market pretty well, but he didn't have a photographic memory or anything. Grumbling shopkeepers looked to his familiar face.

"The nerve of that guy! Is he really one of the Four Kings?"

"Yeah," Teppei said. "Tell you what, just bill Yosaku. Sunny's trying to take care of his friend who's sick. It's another one of the Four Kings."

"We get celebrities here all the time," grumbled a woman as she picked up fallen grapefruits. "And everyone here knows somebody sick."

Teppei bent to help the woman, and then help an older man pour some water back into his tray of Spiny Eels.

"I don't think the Four Kings are very used to people," he explained. " Well, at least Sunny doesn't seem that way. He was so nervous when he met Match and Takimaru. Plus I don't know why he was dillydallying around here without talking to Yosaku for so long. He must have been afraid—"

"You tell Yosaku he owes me 12,000 yen."

"400,000."

"1,200."

"Wowee, that's a lot of money," Teppei said. "Ha ha. Sure hope I don't end up footing the bill. I think all of them have more money than me."

"Teppei!" Sunny shouted.

Like an angel visiting earth, the Gourmet Hunter floated mid-air, arms crossed. Red-faced and sweaty too. "What are you doing? We've got to get more food!"

"But—"

"No excuses!" Teppei felt the silken shimmer of Sunny's hairs brushing against him as they slid towards the market again.

"No, stop!" Teppei was suddenly urgent. "You're a Gourmet Hunter, right? Let's hunt."

Sunny raised a finely manicured eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you're going to break the bank here. Well, Toriko's bank or Yosaku's bank. I hope it isn't going to be my bank, but you never can tell—"

"Stop rambling and get to the point, Reviver!" Sunny demanded.

Sometimes he really did talk too much. He opted for silence.

"Say something!" Sunny was becoming livid.

"The mouth is the root of evil."

Suddenly Sunny was in his face, hair gripping Teppei's cheeks. "Something. Useful."

Teppei flinched at the King's hot breath on his face. The tension in Sunny's ample muscles was palpable.

"Right. Back up the stairs and into the field."

"Ugh!" Sunny's feelers sliced past him less than gently as he turned to float back up the stairs.

Tight bonds cinched around Teppei's waist and arms. Seconds later, the ground sped beneath him. Sunny was carrying him.

"How can you be so heavy?!" Sunny growled.

"Ha ha, dunno," Teppei said. It was kind of insulting that Sunny didn't think he could keep up. He most definitely could. In a remarkable display of self control, Teppei let himself be carried and didn't remark how Sunny really lost his head when it came to Toriko.

* * *

A/N: SHOPPING! I always wanted to see the Toriko boys grocery shopping, because it would be completely ridiculous. Also, Sunny definitely has a complex when it comes to Toriko. So does most everybody in the series, so I guess it's not that unusual. More on that to come.


	3. Feeding the Beast

"Ugh," Sunny twitched."That is _enough_!"

On the table in the middle of Yosaku's lab, Sunny and Teppei had amassed a toppling pyramid of fresh animals and vegetables from the fields, grocery items from Sunny's Hair Shopping, plus a few processed foods from Yosaku's collection.

"Mm, thanks Sunny," Toriko said between mouthfuls. "Did you find these Log Mushrooms?"

"Yes, I did," Sunny removed his palm from his face enough to preen. "They have strong anti-bacterial properties and will keep away some of the more deletrious bacteria in the other items."

"Yum, delicious," Toriko said, not breaking eye contact from his mound of food.

For his part, Teppei hadn't felt so exhausted in a while. Even the extreme cold of Ice Hell hadn't been as exhausting as all the twists and turns in this day. His body slumped heavily in a chair. The room quieted except for Toriko's chewing.

"Hrmm," Toriko's lethargic grunt broke the haze sometime later. "So sleepy." Seconds later, his face fell into a Pudding Mushroom.

"Right," Yosaku declared. "He'll be asleep digesting for about eight hours. Teppei, Sunny, help me lift him."

Teppei rose to obey, and even though Sunny sauntered over oh-so-casually, it was clear he was obeying too. Yosaku and Sunny hefted the massive man's shoulders, and Teppei hoisted his legs. In an awkward hobble, they lifted Toriko to the Healing Jelly bed, and dropped him in.

Sunny hesitated over his sleeping companion for a second. A whisp of colored hair flicked over Toriko's face, wiping off the pudding.

"Nn, Sunny stop licking me," Toriko mumbled.

"Shut up," Sunny blushed and swiveled away.

"Heheh. Zzz."

"Not an ounce of dignity," Sunny said, mostly to himself. Although Teppei was listening, so maybe it was something he was supposed to hear too. Definitely not something to give a reaction to.

He didn't manage more than a smile and a wave when Sunny headed for the door, saying, "I'm going back to my hotel. Good luck to you two, I need beauty sleep."

The room was once again silent after the door slammed. Teppei observed Yosaku taking measurements of the sleeping Toriko. Not with any tools, of course. Yosaku wasn't big on putting anything metal between himself and his patients. His big brown hands roved over Toriko's body with a delicate precision, stopping every so often to take a pulse or measure muscle tone or one of the other many things that Yosaku was so good at on people and Teppei was mostly fluent in on creatures and plants.

"He's quite the princess," Yosaku said, attention focused on the small bud wriggling on Toriko's stump.

"Wuh, Sunny?" Teppei startled. "He's fine. He's basically a good guy."

"Still a prissy one," Yosaku said.

"Sure," Teppei smiled.

"Go to bed," Yosaku replied. Then, finally fixing his deep stare on Teppei. "Did you find a job today?"

"Nah," Teppei said.

"Then humor me and wake up at sunrise tomorrow. Oh, and cover that food."

"Yes, sir." Teppei was halfway through wrapping the whole table in clear Saran Leaves when he realized that he and Yosaku were no longer stricly Master/Apprentice and he didn't have to take any commands.

That didn't make it easier to ignore them.

Yosaku always knew best, and besides, with all the hullabaoo he'd still never had that talk with Sunny.

Nope, he wasn't headed back to the field anytime soon.

* * *

The next morning, Teppei shuffled into the kitchen softly-lit kitchen, half-awake and dressed in threadbare green pajamas that were older than some of the stains on Yosaku's wall.

Yosaku sat at the breakfast table, shoveling down oatmeal with large flowers in it. Teppei slumped into the next chair and grabbed a Milk Orange from the bowl. Through the mess of his undone hair, he could barely see Yosaku's oatmeal but knew it was stuffed with medicinal herbs and energy boosters. Always had been. Teppei preferred fruits and eggs, if they had any. Eggs, that would be good...

"Eat a burrito from the fridge," Yosaku said. "Toriko's asleep. Once he wakes up, he's going to be starving, so I don't want you banging the pots around like you always do."

"Master!"

"I don't suppose you have any Beautiful Beef?" called a voice.

Sunny cut a figure in the entry, looking impecibly dressed in his usual pink and blue garb. A large pink bag was thrown over his shoulder.

Yosaku choked into his oatmeal.

"What? You said Toriko would be awake in eight hours," Sunny glanced haughtily down at the Reviver rounding up bits of sprayed oatmeal.

"There's still a lot of food left over from yesterday," Teppei pointed out. "I wrapped it. It should be good until lunch."

"Then we've got extra time to get done early so I can get real beauty sleep tonight."

"No one's going to get much beauty sleep until Toriko's cells start to stabilize," Yosaku interjected.

"And when is that?"

"How should I know? He keeps breaking all the rules!"

"What's the bag for?" Teppei asked Sunny.

"It's an overnight bag. I checked out of the hotel. I'll be staying here."

Yosaku's eyes bugged out.

"Tep, show me to my room."

"Uh, this isn't a hotel," Teppei said, getting up to show him a room anyway.

"I am quite aware of that," Sunny said. He looked at the walls with unfettered disgust. And when they were out of Yosaku's range, "You probably couldn't charge a rat to stay here."

"If you feel that way, why are you staying here?" Teppei asked, more out of curiosity than defensiveness.

"I can't very well feed Toriko if I have to keep _commuting_," Sunny explained.

"Yeah, guess that's silly," Teppei said absently. He led them to one of the bedrooms down a wood-panel hall. Despite, or because it was an infirmary, the Revival Lab had a number of smaller bedrooms and did in some ways actually resembe an inn.

None of the bedrooms were actually bloodstained.

Sunny stopped in front of one, nodded, and set his bag inside. Apparently, it had met his standards.

"Now then, finish that oatmeal or whatever and I'll watch Toriko. After I see that lazy jerk wake up rested and ravenous, then we'll go out to get more food."

* * *

A/N: You never see the characters eat breakfast... Is there such a concept as "breakfast"? Obviously there is. I also think breakfast is a really individual thing in real life, so I actually put a lot of thought into what Yosaku and Teppei would eat ./ / /.


	4. Slimy Shake-up

In the wide field outside of the city of Life, Sunny deduced the most promising creatures to catch were small mammals. But he'd need to catch _a lot._ Toriko could easily eat twelve shisha-ka-bobs of rabbit, and... ew, that was a disgusting image.

Although Toriko would eat anything, Sunny was going to make sure it was worth eating. A body needed proper nutrition if it was going to heal and that meant only the finest foods.

Teppei wasn't doing too bad on that account, although he seemed pathologically focused on vegetables. With his strange green bouffant bobbing in the grass, and that ridiculous green track suit, he looked like some sort of vegetable himself.

That image was more amusing than the rabbit-ka-bob, and Sunny relaxed into the strangely peaceful and refreshing mood.

"You promised to tell me about Yosaku," Sunny said.

"What do you want to know?"

"Well, for one, is he really as talented as they say?"

"I think the only 'they' is me. And you trusted me pretty easily," Teppei said, giving him an odd look. Those eyes, those amythst eyes tugged at him. If only those eyebrows weren't so thick, he'd be a beauty. He had an air of refinement to him that was so rare. At least, rare if your normal companions were Rin, Toriko or, gag, Zebra.

"You're snapping their necks," Teppei pointed.

"It... It's the most beautiful way to give the rabbits a quick death," Sunny commented, flustered. He changed the subject. "Anyway, isn't there anything larger?"

"Well," Teppei halted and placed a black-gloved finger next to his lip. "No. We'd have to go farther inland."

"Show me," Sunny said.

Teppei hesitated, then shot off towards a hillside. Sunny followed him over the treetops to a cave entrance.

"Have you ever killed a Slug Dragon before?" Teppei asked.

"A WHAT?!" Sunny exploded. "That sounds positively disgusting!"

"Have you?"

"NO!"

"Okay, I'll Knock it, then." Teppei rapped sharply at the stone wall, the tones echoing down a large chamber.

When a giant yellow slug-like mass started oozing out the hole, Sunny almost vomited. "Damn right I'm not touching that!"

Two tentacled eyes unwrapped themselves from the sticky body and woozed into place. Next, a pair of slimy wings started to unfold. Before they could shake the goo off, Teppei flashed into action.

"Impact Knocking. Medium!"

With a flip, Teppei landed on the large creature's head. Then, with artistic precision, he splayed his legs between the two eyestalks and slapped his palm against the Slug Dragon's soft skull.

The effect was immediate; the yellow creature stopped advancing. Teppei visibly relaxed, turning back to Sunny with a smile. "Help me carry it?"

Sunny really didn't think he loved Toriko enough to touch it, let alone haul it back.

"Please?" Teppei asked. The bald pleading in Teppei's eyes almost made him want to concede.

"No way. Isn't there anything at all of a decent size _other_ than this? If I'd know you were going to capture a Slug Dragon, I wouldn't have agreed at all!"

"Oh," Teppei said. "They're the largest animal around that's approved for Capture. They've actually become a nuisance recently because they've been burrowing under the hills and displacing some of the Ruby Crabs, not to mention they leave slime stains that change the PH and keep Log Mushrooms from growing-"

"NO. It's final. No."

"Oh." With a shrug, Teppei slanted his hand and rammed it back into the Slug's head. The creature squirmed to life, making a rapid retreat back down its hole as Teppei leaped off.

Sunny released a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding.

"Ugh, that slime gets everywhere," Teppei said, shaking his hand. Bits of goo sprayed.

"We're going back to get more rabbits," Sunny gritted his teeth.

Teppei grinned sheeplishly. "I guess so."

* * *

Once everyone was back in the same room, whatever tension Sunny carried in from the hunt evaporated. Toriko wasn't smiling, but he was intensely focused on eating and that was a return to normalcy.

Yosaku immedately excused himself to go pass out, and Teppei went off somewhere as well, which left Sunny and Toriko at the food table. Stomach grumbling, Sunny lifted a leg of rabbit.

"Hey! That's mine!" Toriko yelled.

"It's mine! I caught it!" Sunny shouted back.

"But it's my medicine!"

"Too bad!" Sunny licked the meat off the leg in one go.

"Aw, fine. I guess this isn't Jewel Meat or anything so it doesn't matter."

"Don't insult the food you're eating. This is all selected for max nutritional value."

"Really?" Toriko gave him some goofy smile. "Just what I'd expect from you."

"Losing an arm, that's what I'd expect from you." The sheer atrocity of a lost limb was something Sunny could barely comprehend.

"Yep, but it's going to regrow, so it's all okay."

"Doesn't it bother you?"

"Well...no. Stuff like this happens. Scars, sickness, injuries. "

"But it's your whole arm! Whole! Arm!"

"Yep."

"Wha... You know, it's poetic justice that you got in over your head and lost the means to perpetuate getting in over his head," Sunny scoffed.

"You lose your hairs all the time," Toriko retorted.

"Yeah," Sunny said, a bit taken aback that Toriko had noticed. "They shed, they get pulled out all the time. But I have 200,000 of them. You've only got 2 arms."

"Right now I'd say it's about 1.1 arms."

"As if! that's a .01 if I ever saw it!"

"Don't be mean, it's growing back."

Toriko seemed dejected for the first time, so Sunny ate a bit more, then decided it was time to go enjoy a spa.

* * *

A/N: Just more food-gathering this chapter. Plus Sunny acting pretty childish all around. It's not his fault he's surrounded by so much gross stuff! Poor guy needs a vacation.


	5. The Spa Before the Storm

Not everyone marked their passage into adulthood with a spa binge, but not everyone was the beauty of the Four Kings.

Right after his first major check from a non-IGO client, Sunny booked passage alone to Life and blew every cent that he could on spa treatments, luscious meals and grooming. When the month was over, Sunny was squeaky clean, radiantly healthy and nearly broke.

The luster receeded from vacationing in Life: both the benefits from his visit and from Life's wonder. Today was much like the new "normal" in Life. Delicious but not sublime. One's first time was always a landmark experience.

Sunny exhaled as he delicately gathered his freshly-laundered hair into a ponytail. The little dressing room was exquisitely charming, with a huge mirror and matching pink brushes and combs. The spa catered to wealthy women, but Sunny went there from time to time for the exceptional hot springs.

On the staircase up to the Revival Lab, the breeze was mild and warm. Sunny was feeling marvelous until he heard peals of Yosaku's laughter rising from the lab. For some reason that made him tense.

"Hey, Sunny," Toriko said between mouthfuls. Not glancing up at him, of course, why would a _person_ command more attention than whatever slop Toriko was eating? And it did look like grey slop, being that the table was nearly empty except for the compressed remains of whatever had been on the bottom of the pile.

"Gross!" Sunny said.

"I'm slowing down," Toriko managed. "It's stabilizing!"

It _was_ a relief, Sunny realized. Maybe now was a good time to get to his true aim...

"So Reviver Man," Sunny said. "I have a few questions to ask you."

"You're looking for Earth," Yosaku grinned through a puff of smoke.

"Yes... What can you tell me about it?"

"What do you want to know?"

"I wanna know what it tastes like," Toriko interrupted. "It's supposed to be a dessert, right?"

"I wasn't talking to you!" Sunny shouted.

"So, what do you want to know?" Yosaku repeated.

"I'm not asking you anything here, where the glutton can hear. Besides, you've already got a dessert in your Full-Course Meal, Toriko! Don't go stealing mine!"

"I don't want to steal- AGH! So hungry!"

In the blink of an eye, Toriko started shriveling, the hard-earned muscle withering into sinew.

"Toriko! What happened?!" Sunny gasped.

Yosaku was suddenly on his feet. "It was Earth! Just imagining something delicious caused his Gourmet Cells to go into hyperdrive!"

"What...?!" Sunny shouted.

"Sunny, get more food, now!" Yosaku commanded.

"Why me? Why not Teppei!"

"Teppei's already getting food! But he's going to need a lot more!"

"Dammit!" Sunny cursed, but made a beeline for the woods.

The path to the Slug Dragon was easy enough to retrace, a broken twig here, and padded piece of grass there. He was going to have to touch the thing, but at least he had a plan not to butcher it.

He rapped on the cave, and the monsterous thing schlorped out. Ugh, vomit! Despite its immense grossness, he grabbed the Slug Dragon with his sensors and raised it high up into the air.

Right on cue, a giant Beef Falcon dove for it. Nabbing the beautiful brown-and-red feathered bird with his Hair Net was a cinch. He plopped the Slug Dragon next to its cave, into which it quickly slunk.

Sunny sliced the bird's throat. A Beef Falcon was a real delight, with each feather tasting like a different well-doness of steak. The long brown feathers tasted like a well-done steak, and the red underfeathers were juicy rare steak.

"How did you catch a Beef Falcon?"

Sunny whirled around to find Teppei with a large sack flung over his shoulder. He looked uncharacteristically serious, his tone dangerously flat. "Those are endangered."

"Look the other way this once, Tep. Toriko's gotten worse, and you can't expect me to cut up an icky Slug Dragon."

Teppei set down the sack and walked over to the bird. He bent down, surveying the damage of Sunny's slice. "But you used one as bait."

"Yeah. I saw Beef Falcons in the air the last time, and realized they must be attracted to the high salt content of the Slug Dragons."

Teppei bit his lip. "I could arrest you."

Sunny felt betrayed in a way he couldn't express.

"But this bird," Teppei said, planting a seed from his pocket, "can still be revived."

Logically, Sunny knew that Teppei was the one who healed all of Toriko's friends' wounds in Ice Hell, but he hadn't seen those skills in action. As he watched now, it seemed to involved planting and harvesting fast-growing plants that twined around the bird, and some concoctions from Teppei's earrings.

Sunny jumped as the bird weakly cawed.

"You...brought it back to life?"

"It's not something we Revivers can often do. Not unless we catch a poacher in the act." Teppei's look was crystal clear.

"All right, all right, I'll go catch a damn slug."

"Fine." And with that, the two men dashed in separate directions.

* * *

A/N: When Sunny's first introduced, it's mentioned that he doesn't care a whole lot about the IGO/Gourmet Corp. rivalry. (Although he clearly does stuff for the IGO.) I always wondered if he had some sort of teenage rebellion...and knowing Sunny, that would take the form of I'M GOING TO BE BEAUTIFUL AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME. :3

Also, I don't think it's been explicitly said that Revivers can bring things back to life that are actually dead, but it is kind of hazy on what "dead" is. I mean, Teppei was probably going to revive all the ingredients in the Gourmet Showcase if he could, and he had to know those were ice cubes.


	6. Trust and All That

Trust was a strange thing. Until he'd seen the falcon laying at Sunny's feet, Teppei hadn't known that he'd trusted Sunny.

Teppei excused himself to the back rooms after unloading his sack at the lab, but felt unable to rest. So now here he was, wandering around town with an unexpected heartache.

Had he really trusted Sunny in the first place? He'd explicitly shown Sunny only the Slug Dragons, glazing over the topic of "larger prey." He'd forced Sunny to catch rabbits and things the man considered untouchable. He could have mentioned not to kill the endangered birds, but he didn't.

Maybe, sometimes he didn't talk enough.

But Sunny was one of the Four Kings, shouldn't he have known about the endangered status? Although Zebra hadn't seemed to care...

Teppei sighed.

They weren't in Ice Hell anymore. Maybe it was time to remember that Gourmet Hunters and Revivers were on different sides.

* * *

By the time Teppei wandered back, it was nightfall. Yosaku was puttering around a few of his other projects. Toriko was still eating at a rabid pace, but the table was relatively full of the food Teppei had gathered, and the pungent odor of Slug Dragon wafted in from the storage area.

"Master," Teppei said, squatting down near Yosaku's work area. "You're friends with the president of the IGO, right?"

As usual, Yosaku intuited the problem. "Did that Gourmet Princess do something to get you down?"

"Yeah," Teppei sighed. "How do you be friends with someone who undoes the work you do?"

Yosaku turned to his former apprentice. "You love your grandpa Jiro, don't you? Does it upset you that he goes around killing things?"

"Hrmmm," Teppei rubbed the side of his nose.

"You love him not because of what he does, but because of who he is to you," Yosaku asserted.

"Is that different?"

"Not always" Yosaku grinned. "But admiring a trait, or even a living thing isn't the same as one person's relationship with another."

"That isn't helping at all, Master."

"Sure it is! I've got a hunch everything's going to work out just fine."

"Your hunches are always right, but I sure don't get it this time."

That night, Sunny suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"I'm going to sleep," Sunny announced.

"Right!" said Yosaku. "Teppei, make sure he's got stuff for the bed."

it took a second to respond. "I think he can figure it out..."

"No whining! Just do it!"

Teppei scooted off in the direction of the living quarters. Sunny followed behind, an akward tension smothering their words. The linen cabinet had an assortment of odd blankets. Teppei chose the pinkest one and the warmest one and some sheets that still looked half decent. Ones that probably hadn't been used as bandages, at least.

"You do have a sense of style after all," Sunny commented.

"Huh?" Teppei looked down at the pile of fabric in his hand.

"They coordinate... Don't tell me, you didn't do that on purpose?"

"I don't think so," Teppei laughed nervously.

Sunny smiled. It looked a bit pinched, but then with his sharp features everything looked a bit hawkish. "I'm sorry about this afternoon, Tep. It wouldn't be very beautiful of me to hunt endangered species in a country like Life."

The apology felt warm and real. Teppei hadn't realized it, but honesty was also _so Sunny. _

"I wouldn't have really arrested you," Teppei replied.

"And we're forgiven," Sunny said, winking.

Teppei hesitated.

"Or not. Well, anyway, I know you can arrest people like me. You arrested Zebra." Sunny got a little grin on his face again. "What was he like?"

"Uh, big."

"Ha ha! Yes! That hulking oaf doesn't deserve any sort of eloquent description!"

"He looked kind of...accepting."

"Accepting?!"

"Yeah. Like he wanted to be arrested. Or didn't mind it. I've arrested a lot of poachers and criminals in my life and this was one of the few times that the criminal accepted what was happening. Like he was owning up to all the charges instead of trying to run from them."

"Oh, well that hubris does sound like Zebra."

Teppei thought Sunny was being a bit gossipy about the whole thing. Yet from what he understood, the Four Kings were kind of like brothers. If he'd spent less time growing up around old men, maybe he'd understand.

"Well, thanks for the sheets," Sunny slid them from Teppei's hands. "I'll set them up myself. See you in the moring, Tep."

"Night," he said belatedly. The hall felt strangely empty and himself rather buzzy.

* * *

A/N: I wish we could get a glorious flashback that records in pornographic detail Teppei/Yosaku's capture of Zebra. Of all the many flashbacks I'd like to see (more kid!Kings! Jiro and Setsuno! Acacia and Froese!) that one totally tops the list. It would include all of my favorite kinks, such as bossy Yosaku, Zebra losing, and Teppei...well, Teppei in general.


	7. Something That Wasn't There Before

Teppei nuzzled into his blankets, but was still too buzzy to sleep. It had been a long day, and he'd had to Revive something that was dead, but he knew that thoughts of Sunny were keeping him up.

He'd been...flirty with the blankets. An outsider would expect that from Sunny. Someone that flamboyant had to be flirty, and interested in boys, right?

Did it make Teppei an insider to know Sunny to be much more serious?

More importantly, was Sunny interested in boys?

Teppei tossed over again, and slowed his breathing. Images of Sunny winking at him wouldn't leave him alone. Winking and then dragging one of those long fingers down his bare chest.

"Argh!" It wasn't right of him to think about Sunny like that. Or maybe it was, not because Sunny had been encouraging it, but because Teppei could damn well imagine whatever he wanted when he was alone in bed.

Real flirting or not, Sunny would feel wonderful flexing his copious muscles around Teppei as he embraced him. Sunny's mouth would be so soft, perfectly plush when he kissed.

He let his imagination carry him further and further until he was spent and decidedly needed to use the bathroom sink.

He didn't think much of the light being on in the bathroom until he entered to find Yosaku at the sink.

Yosaku stepped aside, chuckling. "You need it more than me."

"Masterrrr!" Teppei groaned, and placed his hand under the warm flow as quickly as possible.

Yosaku took off his headwrap to reveal scruffy unwashed hair. His black shirt came off next, revealing a wide brown hairy chest. And then pants—

"Hey, Master! Wait until I'm done to take your shower!"

"What's wrong? We're both men, aren't we?

"You know that doesn't really help anything for me!"

"You're not tired of looking at this already?" Teppei didn't have to look to see Yosaku would be standing naked proudly, hands on his hips as if daring Teppei to look anywhere but his crotch. He covered his eyes with both hands. "Put a towel on, Master."

"It's only a rule to have one on after showering," Yosaku declared. A smell of smoke suddenly filled the air. Thankfully followed by the squeak of the ancient shower door and a rush of water.

Embarrassment over, Teppei turned to leave, thought better of it, and plopped down on a wooden bench.

"What's eatin' ya, Teppei?" Yosaku called.

"Master, were you and Ichiryu ever...involved?"

"Nope!" came the confident reply. "The boy's too hung up on the past to have much more than a one-night stand."

"Does that mean you slept with him, Master?" Teppei asked hopefully.

"Nope again. Never did."

"But you wanted to?" Still hopeful.

"Nah."

Teppei sighed. He leaned back and drank in the steamed air, finally starting to feel relaxed enough to sleep. The rush of water and scrub of Yosaku's loofah lulled him. He dozed—

"There are no rules when it comes to attraction."

Teppei looked up. Yosaku turned the squeaky wheel of the shower to off and continued.

"I told you already. You like someone because you like them. There doesn't need to be any reason. If you follow some stupid rule you think is in place, then you'll never know—"

—The shower door sprang open, revealing Yosaku in his full glory—

"—What you're missing! Ha ha ha!"

"Master!" Teppei fled the bathroom, eyes still covered, until he made it to the safety of his bedroom. Yosaku's chuckles thankfully died out before he got back to bed.

* * *

Sunny prayed that the day his schedule wasn't defined by a giant pile of food would come quickly. But today, there it was, as filthy and massive as ever, on a table that Sunny was going to insist Yosaku throw out.

The Red Reviver and his pupil were nowhere to be seen. Sunny wandered over to Toriko, who was asleep in his jelly. He looked pretty with the morning light glittering off the jelly. Toriko always had an effortless beauty that came from being well-formed and well fed. Sunny was jealous of it in moments like these.

After a morning run to get some treats like bread and prepared foods, Sunny was surprised to find the Revivers still asleep, and Toriko just stirring.

"Hey Sunny," Toriko said blearily. "Can I have some of those rolls?"

"It's 'good morning,' you caveman," Sunny retorted as he sauntered over.

Toriko sat up, his frown at odds with the exquisite glimmer of light playing over his abdomen. Sunny took the stool next to the bed.

"Here. Don't eat them all. Leave some for me and Teppei."

"Okay!"

Sunny set on his jelly biscuit with more restraint than Toriko's munching fervor. Still, he had no trouble admitting people in Life knew what they were doing when it came to filling things with jam.

"Hey Sunny, how much longer are you going to be here?" Toriko sounded genuinely curious.

"Dunno. As long as it takes to talk to Yosaku about...stuff."

"You could ask him today and then you could leave."

Sunny was steamed. "You ungrateful jerk! I'm here for you, too!"

"Huh? You are? But you said-"

"I can't believe you're making me explain this! You think I'm just going to leave you here with these strangers?"

"Sunny!" Toriko glomped his fellow King with a bear hug. Sunny shook off the crumbs that fell in his hair.

"Ew! Get off, you disgusting pig!"

"You're so nice, Sunny!"

"Enough!" Sunny shoved Toriko back into the gel.

Toriko grumbled for a moment, but seemed to remain in good spirits. "I'm surprised you called those Revivers strangers. You've been spending so much time with Teppei that you guys must be good friends now."

"A Reviver and a Gourmet Hunter friends? Did you forget he arrested Zebra? And he almost arrested me the other day!"

"Wow, what'd you do?!"

"I killed a Beef Falcon."

"Those are endangered!"

"I _know._"

"But he didn't arrest you. Sunny, I know you don't play well with others, but I think that means he likes you."

"Well, I certainly like him!"

"Uh..."

"Oh..."

"..."

"..."

"That's great! I didn't know you were into men, Sunny, but it makes so much sense!"

Sunny blushed furiously. "Don't just make that up on your own! I'm into beautiful things and my standards are high. Too high for you to understand!"

Toriko shrugged. "Well, fine. But you could do a lot worse than him. He's as strong as we are." Toriko tended to think too highly of his friends in Sunny's estimation. "It's not like with me and Komatsu; you could take him anywhere. Plus he's smart and kind too."

For Toriko to compare him to Komatsu was a little much. Everyone knew about the mutual admiration society between that hunter and chef. Sunny didn't feel that way about Teppei.

"And he's related to Knocking Master Jiro! Pretty awesome, huh?"

"He is?"

"You couldn't tell?"

"By what? The bouffant? Last I checked, hairstyles weren't genetically inheritable."

"No, it's the eyebrows."

"That's still hair!"

"Are you guys talking about Grandpa Jiro?" Teppei's voice floated in from the kitchen.

Sunny glared at Toriko and then strode off to the kitchen.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was slightly edited for the T rating. I imagine you can guess which part :) So, I wanted to write a master-student themed Yosaku/Teppei fic but I just couldn't see Yosaku abusing Teppei's trust and youth. So this was the closest I could imagine. Teppei probably had a crush on Yosaku when he was a teenager, but that's ebbed into just admiration. In my head canon, Teppei also figured out he was gay at a pretty young age, probably thanks to his crush on Yosaku.


	8. Routine & Prelude

The days passed quickly, and started to fall into routine. Teppei and Sunny hunted or went to the store in the morning, then ate lunch together. In the afternoon, Sunny went to a spa and Teppei would assist Yosaku or go troll the Food Lodge for odd jobs and to meet with old acquaintances.

It gave them both enough time to get to know each other better. It also gave Sunny time to realize that Yosaku was avoiding him.

Any time he'd try to corner the Reviver out of earshot of Toriko, Yosaku would make some excuse to go back over, or grin and tell Sunny they'd talk later.

Finally, one day Sunny cornered him smoking out on the stairs.

"Yosaku, tell me about Earth," Sunny said bluntly.

"I'll tell you everything I know after Toriko's better," he replied.

"So helping you out is my payment," Sunny guessed.

"Nope."

"Then why?! Just tell me now, and I'll still help out. Even I can tell his recovery is going to be a fraction of the time you said. I can spare it."

"It's not Toriko you're still here for, is it?" Yosaku winked.

"That's right, I'm here about Earth," Sunny leveled his gaze.

Yosaku sighed and wandered off.

* * *

Things were starting to get hard for Teppei. He had commisions he needed to take for the money, and so he asked Yosaku one night if he could go. Yosaku nodded. "Sunny's here to help, after all. Take some time, it'll be for the best."

Teppei wasn't sure what that meant, but still he took some days off to go track down the last known location of Lavender Lotus and found a few seeds. By the end of the week, he'd helped a wild population bloom again, and returned home with a few for cultivation and preservation.

"Where have you been?!" Sunny's shriek greeted him at the door. "You left me to feed this monster by myself!"

"Hey, Teppei," Toriko smiled.

Teppei shrugged. "I had to take a job. I have to support myself too."

Sunny stared at him oddly. "Is that a Lavender Lotus?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I revived them. Some couple wanted them at their wedding, but turns out they'd gone extinct in the wild. Well, there might be some out there, but they needed them right away and figured the easiest way was to revive a recently deceased population."

"It's beautiful." Tendrils of hair caressed the purple petals of the large flower.

"You can have that one," Teppei said. "I've got seeds; those are more useful to me anyway."

"You mean it?" Sunny's eyes lit up.

"Sure." He handed over the flower in its tiny portable vase.

Other than Sunny's strangely amiable greeting, nothing of note happened that day, and the next day he joined Sunny hunting in the norming.

It felt good, familiar. The fields were ripe with memories of he and Sunny hunting, and suprisingly he found those as comforting as the images in the woodgrain of his bedroom walls.

"Lunch?" Teppei asked when they'd amassed a small pile of greens and mammals. Breeze on his ears tickled, as did Sunny's commanding hair. Teppei could sense the microfilments in clearer detail now. Some of them stopped and rested on his body.

"No thanks, I have to prepare for dinner," Sunny said.

"Oh," said Teppei. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"No, you'll see me tonight. At dinner."

"Where?" The word was out of his mouth before he could think to decline, to question.

"House on the Rock. You know it?"

Teppei gasped. "But that's fancy!"

"Who do you think you're talking to? I'm Sunny, the beauty of the Four Kings, and I prefer harmonious establishments. It's my treat."

* * *

A/N: House on the Rock was a restaurant near where I grew up, I think. It wasn't actually in the city, so I had no idea what it looked like. If someone went there, it was like going to a foreign country. In my head, it is still so unimaginably fancy that it would put a four-star restaurant to shame.


	9. Full Course Seduction

Teppei reached the restaurant at 6pm, as instructed. Before going in, he gave himself a quick check in the window. He slicked back some stray hairs, checked his white jacket for stains, turned his green turtleneck right-side-out, and pressed a hand down his dark pants to smooth the exceptional rumples.

Something told him he had Sunny's standards in mind as well as the restaurant's.

Not that it wasn't a high-class establishment with a dress code. Well-appointed patrons trickled in and out of the lobby. Ladies with faux fur coats mingled with gentlemen in suits and hats. Teppei was glad he hadn't just gone with his Reviver's uniform. Though folks tended to bestow special treatment on a Reviver in uniform in Life.

House on the Rock had a regal rock-encrusted exterior, and a dark, intimate interior with glass chandeliers dotting the ceiling like pale jewels. He could see why Sunny might like it. A waiter approached him and said that his dinner partner was already waiting, could he guide him to the table? Teppei nodded and was led through a prairie of cream-colored tablecloths. 6pm seemed early enough to avoid the dinner rush, as the establishment was sparsely populated.

He felt the tendrils glide over his skin first, then he saw their pastel origin, floating out of a booth for two. Sunny glimmered in the restaurant setting, like an opal set in a pewter ring.

"I already ordered an apertif, I hope you don't mind," Sunny said as Teppei slid into the small booth.

"I hope you don't mind it being your treat," Teppei laughed. "Someone like me rarely goes into places like this."

Sunny raised a glass to his lips. "Surely you can't mean you're poor, Teppei."

"No, not really. I just don't come to this sort of place without occasion. Not to be insulting, but it doesn't hold a lot of appeal for me."

"None taken. An appreciation for the finer things in life isn't something that I've come to expect from others. Although I do hope you are moved by this particular experience."

Teppei's heart skipped a beat, but his awkwardness was overridden by the arrival of candied Crab Nuts in Raspberry sauce. Pleasant chatter followed with Charis Lobster Soup, Tuna Fingerlings, Cinderella Beef, and Golden Carrot noodles. Teppei loved noodles.

He was wiping the sauce from his mouth, pleased as could be, when the waiter appeared with two cups. Inside were large Lavender Lotus flowers, topped with small dollops of pastel ice cream.

"Do you like it? Yosaku gave me a recipe for flower freezes. It's all edible."

"Wowee," Teppei hesitatingly bit into a thick petal. It had a smooth, rich taste like sweet cream. "It's delicious!"

"And the ice cream in the middle is also floral."

"Yum. I taste roses and honeysuckle."

"The green is juniper mint," added Sunny. "Mmm, it's truly exquisite."

Their spoons clanked at the bottom of the cups at the same time. Teppei smiled. "That was delicious, Sunny, thank you." Sunny flushed, or maybe that was his imagination.

A waiter arrived with fluted pink glasses. "Your Cherry Zinfandel."

Sunny smiled slyly. "A full-course meal isn't over until the drink. Join me on the balcony, Tep?"

Although the inside was nothing to scoff at, House on the Rock was better known for its spectacular view. Set atop a cliff, it overlooked much of the city of Life. Sunset's orange tones saturated the landscape below.

Teppei and Sunny leaned over the balcony, glasses in hand, soaking in the colored light and air. Sunny's tendrils curled around Teppei's arms and brushed against his face. In the warm light, and warm air, with the deliciously warming dessert wine, Teppei felt ridiculously sated.

"Thanks again, Sunny. This was really nice. But why go through the trouble?"

Sunny looked poetically at the brimming sunset. "To experience a moment like this. Don't you think the greatest moments are reached through beautiful toil?"

"This moment, huh?"

Teppei looked at Sunny, who glimmered shades of coral, orange and pink. The light cast a softness about his sharp features. His bottom lip at least, looked incredibly soft when the glass dented it and Sunny swallowed the last of his Zinfandel.

"Tep."

The Reviver instinctively set his empty glass aside.

More and more of Sunny's tendrils were flocking to him, curling and twisting about his body. Sunny drew a step nearer, searching Teppei's face.

Teppei leaned in and Sunny gently but firmly met his lips with a kiss.

The world narrowed to Sunny's warm, insistent mouth against his. He was too busy melting into those inviting lips to breathe, until Sunny broke the kiss. Air only flowed into his lungs for a second before Sunny took his mouth again.

This kiss went deeper, pressing tongue to tongue. Teppei made a muffled noise into Sunny's mouth, and was rewarded with deeper probing. They were both trembling, even Sunny's tendrils were shaking, and the kiss broke. Teppei pressed his cheek against Sunny's, and Sunny's strong arms clasped around his back. He shivered at the promise in those arms.

"Will you join me upstairs?" Sunny whispered in his ear. "The hotel gave me a room in exchange for the Lavender Lotus Freeze recipe."

Teppei's heart raced, but for some reason he couldn't hold back a smile. "Hoo boy. I guess I'll be getting a lot more commissions for those."

Their bodies shifted, until Teppei was gazing deep into Sunny's blue eyes. They sparkled with life, brighter than any jewel.

"I really like you Tep. I think I'll like you even better in bed," Sunny said.

Teppei's knees turned to jelly. "Me too, Sunny."

* * *

A/N: Aaaand here's where the story ends on FanFiction. The full, unedited version is being posted chapter-by-chapter on ArchiveOfOurOwn, under the same title.

Although I'm thinking of posting an edited version of the rest of the story here, just so all of you awesome people reading the fic here can see what happens. I really do appreciate the people who are reading this!


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